Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/269

 Struggle for Constitutional Government 231 both parties shall cease, and that all unity, peace, and con- cord shall be embraced, on either side, according to the expressions in the precedent article, to the honor of our sovereign lord, King Lucifer, his crown and dignity. Item : It is agreed that the said state of the inns of court and the state ecclesiastic aforesaid shall jointly and severally use the uttermost of their strength, power, and policy to resist and suppress all such proceedings of this present Parliament which shall any way tend to the refor- mation and suppression of oppression, extortion, bribery, contention, and tradition ; and that they shall and will, with all their might, power, and policy, endeavor and strive to broach, advance, and maintain all the said several impieties again, to the honor of our sovereign lord, King Lucifer, his crown and dignity. Item : It is agreed by and between our sovereign lord, King Lucifer, and the whole state ecclesiastic, of the one part, and Judge Bribery, that forthwith, upon the dissolu- tion of this present Parliament, he, the said Judge Bribery, is then again to put in practice the taking of bribes, pass- ing of false judgment, and maintaining his false and corrupt sentences and decrees to be things sacred and infallible ; oppressing the innocent by close imprisonment, and also favoring all Jesuits, priests, and seminaries, if any of them happen by the instruments of justice to be laid hold on ; animating and instructing all attorneys, solicitors, and clerks, for and to the sowing of strife and contention amongst the people of the land, to the honor of our sover- eign lord, King Lucifer, his crown and dignity. On the other hand, there were not wanting satires on the dissenters, who stood out against the Book of Com- mon Prayer and the service therein prescribed by the government. The pompous discussions among cobblers and tinkers of matters of which they had little under- standing naturally provoked mirth and scorn, as is shown by the following lampoon.